Reducing the network load of event-triggered video

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method for reducing the network load of an event-triggered video system comprising transmitting a first ‘play’ indication by a controlling process over a data network, to an appropriately configured video encoding process, transmitting first video data by the encoding process in response to receiving the first ‘play’ indication, the first video data being transmitted over the data network through a communication channel established over the data network between the encoding process and a recording process and receiving the first video data by the recording process.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to event-triggered video.

BACKGROUND

Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should inno way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely knownor forms part of the common general knowledge in the field.

IP Video Surveillance can put an enormous strain on existing networkwhen deployed, typically requiring network upgrades. The transmissionand storage of continuous video streams puts considerable strain on bothbandwidth and storage capacity in a network system.

There are presently two primary methods of optimizing video with events.The first method is to have the encoding device store video locally andthen offline forward (for example FTP) the video to a centralized datastorage device. The second method involves managing the video storagebased on event-triggers sent to the recording device wherein therecorder will receive a constant stream of video data from the encodingdevice.

OVERVIEW

There is a need in the art for better methodologies for dealing withevent-triggered video. It is an object to addresses this need.

Described herein is a method and apparatus for reducing the network loadof event-triggered video.

In accordance with an embodiment, there is provided a method forreducing the network load of an event-triggered video system, the methodcomprising:

-   -   transmitting a first ‘play’ indication by a controlling process        over a data network, to an appropriately configured video        encoding process;    -   transmitting first video data by the encoding process in        response to receiving the first ‘play’ indication, the first        video data being transmitted over the data network through a        communication channel established over the data network between        the encoding process and a recording process; and    -   receiving the first video data by the recording process.

In accordance with another embodiment, there is provided an apparatusfor reducing network load of event-triggered video. The apparatuscomprising at least one encoding device configured to receive a ‘play’indication for transitioning to a transmitting state and transmittingvideo data, and wherein each encoding device is further configured toreceive a ‘pause’ indication for transitioning to a buffering state andbuffering a predefined portion of the most recently received video data;and at least one recording device configured to transmit the ‘play’ andthe ‘pause’ indication to a respective encoding device, each recodingdevice is further configured to produce a recording of at least part ofthe video data, wherein each encoding and recording device is coupleableto each other device by a data network.

In accordance with a further embodiment, there is provided an apparatuscomprising at least one controlling device configured to perform acontrolling process for transmitting a ‘play’ and a ‘pause’ indication.The ‘play’ indication, when received by at least one encoding deviceconfigured to perform an encoding process, transitions each encodingprocess to a transmitting state and transmits video data. The ‘pause’indication, when received by at least one encoding device, transitionseach encoding process to a buffering state and buffers a predefinedportion of the most recently received video data.

Other aspects and advantages will be apparent from the description andclaims provided herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of example only,with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system for reducing network load ofevent-triggered video;

FIG. 2 is an example state diagram for the encoding process of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an example operational flow diagram of the controlling processfor the recording device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of network communications passing betweenthe encoding device and recording device of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative example system for reducing networkload of event-triggered video.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Described herein is a method and apparatus for reducing the network loadof event-triggered video.

The typical system components include one or more video encodingdevices, recording devices, and live monitoring clients. The followingembodiments focus on the interface between the recording device and theencoding device.

Event-triggered video is one method used in recording of IP VideoSurveillance data. These events can be as simple as TTL logical eventscommunicated via a direct coupling to the system or as sophisticated asvideo analytics utilizing raw video interpretation to generate digitaldomain events. For example analog motion sensors, door open/closecontacts, etc may provide these logical events.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an embodiment provides asystem 100 that is scalable and reduces network overhead forevent-triggered video, using standards based protocols. In this system,there are two distinct components of this system, being the encodingdevice 110 and the recording device 120. These devices are coupledtogether by a data network 130 for transmitting and receivingindications and video data. In this embodiment, the encoding device 110is characterised by an encoding process 111, and the recording device120 is characterised by a controlling process 121 and a recordingprocess 122.

The first component is the encoding process 111 having a method to pausethe video, which is activated by a ‘pause’ indication. These indicationsare transmitted thought a data network in a conventional manner. In oneembodiment indications may be provided though a HTTP XML interface. Inanother embodiment indications may be provided through the standard RSTP‘pause’ or HTTP to allow for simplified solutions and improved thirdparty interoperability. In further embodiments indications may beprovided to any like interface. When the encoding process receives the‘pause’ indication it keeps the video session alive (e.g. channel open,or TCP socket open) but stops sending video data over this session.Instead the encoding process sends the video data to a local buffer andmaintains a predefined amount of the most recent video data in thisbuffer. Typically the buffer is implemented as a rolling or circularbuffer, wherein the video data older than the predefined time isoverwritten by the new video data. This occurs as the insertion pointfor the new data within the buffer cycles around the buffer.

The encoding process, upon receiving a ‘play’ indication while in abuffering state will begin streaming the video data from the bufferincluding any new video data that is to be sent to the buffer. Thisoccurs until a ‘pause’ or ‘stop’ indication is received. If a ‘stop’indication is received the encoding process will flush the buffer andfree all resources.

FIG. 2 shows the state diagram 200 for this encoding process. Thisprocess includes three states being an idle state 210, a buffering state220 and a transmitting state 230. The default starting point for thisprocess is the idle state 210. In the idle state 210 no resources areallocated and no video is buffered or transmitted. The idle state 210will only be exited through the receipt of a ‘play’ indicationtransitioning 240 the process into the transmitting state 230. In thetransmitting state 230 the encoding process streams video data from thebuffer and any new video data that is to be sent to the buffer. In thetransmitting state 230 a ‘stop’ indication transitions 245 the processback to the idle state 210 while a ‘pause’ indication transitions 246the process to the buffering state 220. The buffering state 220 triggersthe local buffering of video data. The local buffer can be of differentlengths including in some embodiments a null buffer containing onlyrecent live video data. In the buffering state 220 the receipt of a‘stop’ indication releases all resources and resets the process bytransitioning 243 through to the idle state 210. In the buffering state220 the receipt of a ‘play’ indication transitions 242 the process tothe transmitting states causing the buffered content collected inbuffering state 220 to be transmitted, followed by the transmission oflive content delayed by the buffer length. While in the transmittingstate 230 receipt of a ‘fast forward’ indication 248 will increase thetransmission speed by a configurable amount faster than real-time. Itwill be appreciated that the transmission of buffered video data can beat a rate greater than the encoding rate, whereby the subsequenttransmission of live content by the encoding process can be less thanthe delay related to the buffer length or substantially real-time.

When the encoding process is in the idle state 210, receiving a

-   -   (a) ‘play’ indication transitions 240 to the transmitting state        230;    -   (b) ‘stop’ indication transitions 241 a return the idle state        210.

When the encoding process is in the buffering state 220, receiving a

-   -   (a) ‘play’ indication transitions 242 to the transmitting state        230;    -   (b) ‘stop’ indication transitions 243 to the idle state 210;    -   (c) ‘pause’ indication transitions 244 a return the buffering        state 220.

When the encoding process is in the transmitting state 230, receiving a

-   -   (a) ‘stop’ indication transitions 245 to the idle state 210;    -   (b) ‘pause’ indication transitions 246 to the buffering state        220;    -   (c) ‘play’ indication transitions 247 a return the transmitting        state 230.    -   (d) ‘fast forward’ indication 248 causes the video transmission        rate to increase by a configurable amount faster than real-time        buffered speed resuming normal operation upon receipt of ‘play’        indication 247 or at the end of the pre-defined buffered length        returning to live operations.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the second component is the video recordingdevice 120, which is characterised by a controlling process 121 and arecording process 122. The controlling process is configured to transmit‘play’, ‘pause’, ‘fast forward’ and ‘stop’ indications over the networkto an encoding process associated with a relevant video stream. Therecording process 122 is configured to record received video data. Inone embodiment the recording device 120, including both a controllingprocess 121 and recording process 122, is capable of capturingindications from other devices on the network.

Further examining the ‘play’, ‘pause’, ‘fast forward’ and ‘stop’indications.

The ‘play’ indication is used to start the encoding process andtransmitting a video data stream regardless of whether event drivenstorage is implemented. The ‘pause’ is implemented such that, in thecase of an event driven recording, the recording device will initiallystart the stream with a ‘play’ indication, verify that the connection isvalid and video is received, then issue a ‘pause’ indication to put theencoding process into a buffering state.

The ‘fast forward’ indication is used to bring the transmission ofbuffered video data back to substantially real time transmission ofvideo data. This is typically used to reduce the video delay resultingfrom transitioning from a buffering state 220 to a transmitting state230, as shown in FIG. 2. The buffer video data is buffered at apredetermined recording data rate. The encoding device, in thetransmitting state, responding by progressing through the video bufferfaster than the recording data rate for bringing the buffered video datacloser to substantially real time transmission of video data. In someembodiments, the transmission of buffer video data is at a data ratefaster than the recording data rate. This may be determined by the datanetwork capacity or the recording capacity of the recording device.

The ‘stop’ indication will be implemented to cause the encoding processto terminate any active session to the recording device.

In a further embodiment, the indication definition includes an ‘archive’indication that is used to gather buffered video from an encodingprocess. This includes pre-event and post-event archival time. This‘archive’ indication allows the recorder to derive sufficientinformation about how it is to interact with the encoding process.

FIG. 3 shows the operational flow diagram 300 for an embodiment of thecontrolling process 121. In one embodiment, this operation of therecording device comprises:

-   -   (a) transmitting an initial ‘play’ indication 310 for stream        validation;    -   (b) transmitting a ‘pause’ indication 320 to send the encoder        into a buffering idle state;    -   (c) waiting until the event to occur 330;    -   (d) transmitting a ‘play’ indication 340, once the event occurs;    -   (e) leaving the channel open for receiving the predefined        pre-event and post-event times 350;    -   (f) transmitting a ‘pause’ indication 360 to send the encoder        back into a buffering state; and    -   (g) returning to step (c) 370.

A ‘stop’ indication will flush the buffer and tear down connections.

Steps (c) though (f) are repeated for each event-trigger that isreceived by the controlling process.

This method is preferably achieved by creating indication primitivesthat are understood by both the encoding and recording device, allowingfor a substantially reduced usage of bandwidth across the networkconnection between an encoding device and a recording device for thevideo stream while no event is detected. This reduces the total datatransferred to data of a higher presumed relevance to the triggeringevent. In one embodiment, the controlling process within the recordingdevice controls this method for improved scalability.

This method provides the ability of the recorders to determine orcontrol the most appropriate time to send the video from the encodingdevices while still allowing for buffered data to be utilized forpre-event monitoring.

FIG. 4 shows the network communications, of an embodiment, passingbetween an encoding device having and encoding process, and a recordingdevice, having controlling process and a recording process, by way ofexample only.

A session is established between the controlling process and encodingprocess 400 and 401. The encoding process is initialised to the idlestate 402.

The controlling process sends a ‘play’ indication 403, which is receivedby the encoding process and causes it to transition to the transmittingstate 404. The encoding process then transmits video data 405, which isreceived by the recording process 406. This assists in confirming that avalid connection has been established. The controlling process thenobtains sufficient information about how the encoding process operates.

The controlling process then transmits a ‘pause’ indication 407, whichis received by the encoding process and causes it to transition to thebuffering state 408. While the encoding process is in the bufferingstate it buffers a pre-defined amount of the most recent video data 409.

An event is triggered 410 and received by the controlling process 411.The controlling process, where and when appropriate, transmits a ‘play’indication to the encoding process 412. When the encoding processreceives the ‘play’ indication it transitions to the transmitting state413 and commences transmitting the contents of the video data buffer andany subsequently processed video data 414.

This video data is then received by the recording process 415 and isstored (or recorded). The controlling process determines when thepost-event time has elapsed 416 and transmits a ‘pause’ indication 417to the encoding process. The encoding process receives the ‘pause’indication and transitions to the buffering state 418. While theencoding process is in the buffering state it buffers, in a roll-overfashion, a pre-defined amount of the most recent video data 419.

When terminating a session the controlling process transmits a ‘stop’indication 420 to the encoding process. The encoding process receivesthe ‘stop’ indication and transitions to the idle state 421, causing itto flush its video buffer. The network connection is then terminated ina data network in a conventional manner for whatever protocol wasproviding the data transport.

It will be appreciated that a controlling device is any deviceconfigured at least in part to perform a controlling process and arecording device is any device configured at least in part to perform arecording process. Referring back to FIG. 1, a single device may beconfigured to perform both a controlling process 121 and a recordingprocess 121. It will be further appreciated that in other embodiments, acontrolling process and a recording process may be in separate, butcoupled, devices.

Referring to FIG. 5, an alternative embodiment provides a system 500that is scalable and reduces network overhead for event-triggered video,using standards based protocols. In this system, there are threedistinct components, being the encoding device 110, the recording device520 and the controlling device 540. These devices are coupled togetherby a data network 130 for transmitting and receiving indications andvideo data. In this embodiment, the encoding device 110 is characterisedby an encoding process 111, the recording device 520 is characterised bya recording process 122, and the controlling device 540 is characterisedby a controlling process 121.

Instead of the controlling and recording processes being internally andphysically coupled within a recoding device 120, as shown in FIG. 1,these processes may be separately distributed across the network withinthe recording device 520 and controlling device 540, as shown in FIG. 5.Conceptually, these processes communicate the same information across adifferent medium.

In further embodiment, the system includes at least one encoding device;wherein each encoding device is configured to perform an encodingprocess. Each encoding device is configured to receive a ‘play’indication for transitioning to a transmitting state and transmittingvideo data. Each encoding device is further configured to receive a‘pause’ indication for transitioning to a buffering state and bufferinga predefined portion of the most recently received video data. Thesystem further includes at least one recording device configured toexecute a recording process for producing a recording of at least partof said video data, and at least one controlling device configured toexecute a controlling process for transmitting said ‘play’ and ‘pause’indication. Each recording, controlling and encoding device iscoupleable to each other device by a data network.

In further embodiments the system includes a plurality of encodingdevices and a plurality of recording devices all coupled to a datanetwork. Alternatively, one encoding device may be operativelyassociated with more than one recording device. Similarly, a recodingdevice may be operatively associated with more than one encoding device.Likewise, a single controlling process may operatively associate with aplurality of recording processes and a plurality of encoding devices.

In an embodiment, the data network may comprise a plurality ofsub-networks and/or a plurality of parallel networks. Conceptually, thedata network only provides a vehicle for transporting indications andvideo data.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above can be usedin IP Video Surveillance Networks as a method for intelligent videostorage in any solution where pseudo real-time video is stored for laterreview. This does not preclude the simultaneous existence of real-timemonitoring in the same solution.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above provide amore efficient method for event based video recording.

Further Interpretation

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specificationdiscussions utilizing terms such as “process”, “processing”,“computing”, “calculating”, “determining” or the like, refer to theindication and/or processes of a computer or computing system, orsimilar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transformdata represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into otherdata similarly represented as physical quantities.

In a similar manner, the term “processor” may refer to any device orportion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registersand/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronicdata that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A “computer”or a “computing machine” or a “computing platform” may include one ormore processors.

The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performableby one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also calledmachine-readable) code containing a set of instructions that whenexecuted by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of themethods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify indications to betaken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing systemthat includes one or more processors. Each processor may include one ormore of a CPU. The instructions may reside, completely or at leastpartially, in any storage medium (e.g. substantially permanent in a harddisk, or volatile RAM). Thus, the storage medium and the processor alsoconstitute computer-readable carrier medium carrying computer-readablecode. Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or beincluded in a computer program product.

In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as astandalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to otherprocessors, in a networked deployment, the one or more processors mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-clientnetwork environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer ordistributed network environment.

Note that while some diagrams only show a single processor and a singlememory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art willunderstand that many of the components described above are included, butnot explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventiveaspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, theterm “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machinesthat individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) ofinstructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussedherein.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the describedembodiments may be alternatively embodied as a method, an apparatus suchas a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processingsystem, or a computer-readable carrier medium, e.g., a computer programproduct. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computer readablecode including a set of instructions that when executed on one or moreprocessors cause the processor or processors to implement a method.Accordingly, aspects of these embodiments may take the form of a method,an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, thepresent embodiments may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., acomputer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carryingcomputer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via anetwork interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in anexemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “carrier medium”should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“carrier medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that iscapable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions forexecution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one ormore processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of thepresent embodiments. A carrier medium may take many forms, including butnot limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmissionmedia.

It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performedin one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of aprocessing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions(computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understoodthat embodiments are not limited to any particular implementation orprogramming technique and that embodiments may be implemented using anyappropriate techniques for implementing the functionality describedherein. Embodiments are not limited to any particular programminglanguage or operating system.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “inan embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore,the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combinedin any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description ofexemplary embodiments, various features of these embodiments aresometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, ordescription thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure andaiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventiveaspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that some claims requires more features thanthose features expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the followingclaims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of asingle foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following theDetailed Description are hereby expressly incorporated into the DetailedDescription, with each claim standing on its own as a separateembodiment.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some butnot other features included in other embodiments, combinations offeatures of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope ofthe claims, and form different embodiments, as would be understood bythose in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of theclaimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method orcombination of elements of a method that can be implemented by aprocessor of a computer system or by other means of carrying out thefunction. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carryingout such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying outthe method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element describedherein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carryingout the function performed by the element.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are setforth. However, it is understood that embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not toobscure an understanding of this description.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a commonobject, merely indicate that different instances of like objects arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner

Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term coupled, when used in theclaims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to directconnections only. The terms “coupled” and “connected”, along with theirderivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms arenot intended as synonyms for each other. Thus, the scope of theexpression a device A coupled to a device B should not be limited todevices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connectedto an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between anoutput of A and an input of B which may be a path including otherdevices or means. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements areeither in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other but yet stillco-operate or interact with each other.

Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be thepreferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize thatother and further modifications may be made thereto, and it is intendedto claim all such changes and modifications as fall within their scope.For example, any formulas given above are merely representative ofprocedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted fromthe block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functionalblocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a first ‘play’ indicationfrom a controlling process over a data network at a video encodingprocess; transmitting first video data by the video encoding process inresponse to receiving the first ‘play’ indication, the first video databeing transmitted over the data network through a communication channelestablished over the data network between the video encoding process anda recording process; receiving a first ‘pause’ indication at the videoencoding process, the video encoding process ceasing transmission of thefirst video data in response to receiving the first ‘pause’ indication,wherein the pause indication is received after a predetermined time ofinactivity after an event; transitioning the video encoding process intoa buffering state in response to receiving the first ‘pause’ indication,wherein during the buffering state a predetermined portion of mostrecent video data is stored in a circular buffer, wherein thepredetermined portion of the video data to be stored is determined basedon a predetermined pre-event archival time and a post-even archivaltime, and wherein the video data older than a predetermined time in thecircular buffer is overwritten by subsequently received new video data;and receiving a ‘stop’ indication at the video encoding process, whereinreceiving the ‘stop’ indication comprises: terminating the videoencoding process, and discarding the video data stored in the circularbuffer.
 2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising, waitinguntil an event-trigger signal is received by the controlling process;and beginning transmission of the first ‘play’ indication.
 3. A methodaccording to claim 2 further comprising, leaving said communicationchannel open for receiving a predefined pre-event and post-event periodof said first video data; and transmitting, in response to the playindication, the video data stored in the circular buffer including anynew video data that is to be sent to the circular buffer, followed bylive video data, wherein the live video data is delayed by the circularbuffer length.
 4. A method according to claim 3, wherein when the videoencoding process is in said buffering state, the predefined portion ofthe most recent video data is buffered in the circular buffer maintainedby the video encoding process, wherein the most recent video data isbuffered at a predetermined recording data rate.
 5. A method accordingto claim 3, further comprising: receiving a first fast forwardindication, while in transmitting state; transmitting, in response tothe first ‘fast forward’ indication, the video data stored in thecircular buffer including any new video data that is to be sent to thecircular buffer faster than the recording data rate for bringing thefirst video data closer to substantially real time transmission of thesubsequently received new video data.
 6. A method according to claim 1,further comprising, transmitting a first ‘archive’ indication by thecontrolling process over the data network, to the video encodingprocess, the video encoding process responding by transmittinginformation about how it interacts with the recording process.
 7. Amethod according to claim 1, wherein transmission of the subsequentlyreceived video data is at a data rate faster than the recording datarate.
 8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the video data issurveillance video data.
 9. A method according to claim 1, wherein thefirst video data is substantially real-time video data.
 10. A methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: establishing the communicationchannel between the video encoding process and the recording process;transmitting a second ‘play’ indication by the controlling process overthe data network, to the video encoding process; transmitting secondvideo data by the video encoding process in response to receiving thesecond ‘play’ indication, the second video data is transmitted over thedata network though the communication channel; confirming configurationsettings of the video encoding process, the configuration settingincluding pre-event and post-event times; transmitting a second ‘pause’indication by the controlling process over the data network, to thevideo encoding process; ceasing the video encoding process transmissionof the second video data in response to receiving the second ‘pause’indication; and transitioning the video encoding process into abuffering state in response to receiving the first ‘pause’ indication.11. A method according to claim 3, further comprising, receiving a firstfast forward indication, while in transmitting state; increasing a rateof video transmission by a configurable amount, wherein the rate oftransmission is faster than real-time buffered speed; and decreasing therate of video transmission by the configurable amount returning to livevideo data, based on at least one of: receipt of the play indication,and at the end of a predetermined buffered length.
 12. An apparatuscomprising: at least one encoding device configured to receive a ‘play’indication for transitioning to a transmitting state and transmittingfirst video data, and wherein each of the encoding device is furtherconfigured to receive a ‘pause’ indication for transitioning to abuffering state and buffering a predefined portion of the most recentlyreceived new video data in a circular buffer, wherein the pauseindication is received after a predetermined time of inactivity after anevent, wherein the predetermined portion of the video data to be storedis determined based on a predetermined pre-event archival time and apost-even archival time, and wherein the video data older than apredetermined time in the circular buffer is overwritten by subsequentlyreceived new video data; and at least one recording device configured totransmit the ‘play’ and the ‘pause’ and a ‘stop’ indication to arespective the encoding device, each the recording device being furtherconfigured to produce a recording of at least part of the first videodata, wherein the receiving a ‘stop’ indication at the video encodingprocess, wherein the ‘stop’ indication being configured to: terminatingthe transmitting state and the buffering state, and discarding the firstvideo data stored in the circular buffer; wherein each the encoding andrecording devices is coupleable to each other by a data network.
 13. Anapparatus according to claim 12, wherein at least one the recordingdevice is operatively associated with a plurality of the encodingdevices.
 14. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the first videodata is substantially real-time video data.
 15. An apparatus accordingto claim 12, wherein the transmission rate of the first video data isfaster than the encoding data rate of the buffered said new video data.16. An apparatus comprising: at least one controlling device configuredto perform a controlling process for transmitting a ‘play’, a ‘stop’,and a ‘pause’ indication, wherein ‘play’ indication, when received by atleast one encoding device configured to perform an encoding process,transitions each of the encoding process to a transmitting state andtransmits first video data, wherein the ‘pause’ indication, whenreceived by the at least one encoding device, transitions each of theencoding process to a buffering state and buffers a predefined portionof the most recently received new video data in a circular buffer,wherein the video data older than a predetermined time in the circularbuffer is overwritten by subsequently received new video data, whereinthe pause indication is received after a predetermined time ofinactivity after an event, wherein the predetermined portion of thevideo data to be stored is determined based on a predetermined pre-eventarchival time and a post-even archival time, and wherein the ‘stop’indication, when received by said at least one encoding deviceterminates the encoding process and discard the first video data storedin the circular buffer.
 17. An apparatus according to claim 16, whereinat least one of the controlling device is operatively associated with aplurality of the encoding devices.
 18. An apparatus according to claim16, further comprising at least one recording device configured toexecute a recording process for producing a recording of at least partof said first video data.
 19. An apparatus according to claim 18,wherein at least one of the controlling device is, operativelyassociated with a plurality of recording devices.
 20. An apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein at least one of the encoding, recordingand controlling devices are distributed across one or more the datanetworks.